Kai let out a sigh as his eyes began slowly closing, right before he let himself give into The Hex and fell asleep, Kai managed to form one more thought before fully succumbing to his drowsiness.
'Why's that damned old man crying? As if I would ever die, idiot...'
The young man soon fully succumbed to The Hex, everything went dark, and then a soothing and melodious voice whispered into his ear sweetly.
[Welcome Warrior of Mankind, Enlightened Kaito, to The Dreadful Horizon].
[Be prepared for your second trial].
Kai's eyes widened, he had heard from his professor about how much humanity had explored the other world the trials take Enlightened to. He had also learned from his teacher that Enlightened who have cleared three trials could enter the realm as they wished and were called Sacred by all of mankind. There were only a handful of them, around ten to fifteen.
He had learned many things from his wonderful teacher, such as the fact that no one has managed to beat the fourth trial and so much more. But not once had Kai heard of this place, the world the trials take place in where already fully explored, all that was left was the deep and vast void that surrounded the realm.
The Dreadful Horizon was not in any map, sketch, or known to anyone that he knew of. This meant that Kai and the other Enlightened were brought to a new area that hadn't been discovered.
But there was no more time to think as Kai suddenly opened his eyes and felt a cold breeze constantly pressing against his body. He couldn't see anything, as if the world was shrouded by darkness completely. That was when Kai realized that he was falling, quickly protecting himself by following one of the instructions of his professor.
'Damnation, where am I, you bastards?!'
After several minutes the young man suddenly plunged into what seemed like water. The water was deep and vast, he couldn't see anything but darkness still. Kai began to swim up with all of his will power, he moved his arms desperately as he felt his lungs burning. Eventually after swimming up for a while he finally managed to reach the surface.
Kai coughed up a large amount of water while panting and looking around desperately. He spotted land only a few feet away from him and began swimming towards it.
That was when he heard it, a loud, ear piercing, and gut wrenching roar. It came from behind him, when Kai turned his head his eyes opened wide and he began swimming more desperately. It was a massive serpent with thick scales. A mesmerizing blue gem rested atop of its forehead as it stared down at the human that was swimming away from it.
'Please, please, don't look here! I'm not even enough to be a light snack for you! I'd taste horrible, I'm sure of it!'
The worst part of it all, well it was hard for Kai to tell. He was currently without any clothing because it didn't come with him to the trial. But at the same time there was a massive aquatic serpentine creature, its body covered with menacing black scales, and the mesmerizing gem atop of its head staring him down as if he was some sort of appetizer.
Thankfully the young man reached land and fell to his knees, feeling the cold breeze brush against his wet skin. Kai's breath was labored as he stood up and immediately ran into the forest without looking back.
Unknown to him, the serpent seemed rather wary of the land and turned back, swimming deeper into the vast and eerie waters.
Kai continued to run through the forest, until he finally came to a stop a few minutes later. He looked around and saw a large leaf that had fallen from one of the gigantic trees around him, the young man quickly dusted it off and cleaned it while slowly forming it into a crude form of an undergarment.
As Kai put on his poorly made underwear, he looked around and leaned up against a tree. He still felt the cold breeze brushing against his soft and pale skin.
'At least I managed to make some form of clothes for myself...'
The young man let out a deep sigh before standing up with trembling feet, Kai seemed more scared than he usually would be. After all, this place wasn't even registered anywhere on earth. Otherwise his professor would've known about it, he was such a geek when it came to those things.
Kai looked around dejectedly before noticing a piece of bone laying around beside him. It seemed to be a really sharp tooth. Kai paused before deciding to use his unauthorized ability that he had received from the Demon of Knowledge.
He saw a small black panel with gold text materialize besides the sharp piece of bone. Kai gulped silently while reading, still amazed at his ability.
[Fang of an Abyssal Scavenger].
[Durability: 50/70].
[Estimated number of uses: 15].
[Weapon potential: Great].
[Elemental Affinity: Shadow].
Kai's eyes widened in disbelief, with this ability his eyes could see the information of everything. He could become a master when it comes to battles if he manages to utilize his ability correctly.
'Such a shame that I can't share it with anyone. But honestly this is amazing!'
Kai reached carefully for the part of the fang that could be used as a handle and felt a jolt of knowledge enter his mind. He could feel it all, many possible ways to use this fang were etched into his mind.
His attribute, [Jack Of All Trades] was truly marvelous, it probably had the most potential out of any attribute and could possibly be better than most abilities. If only his innate ability didn't limit the growth of his attribute.
A long sigh escaped Kai's lips as he swung the fang he was going to use as a makeshift dagger. After a few slashes in the air Kai chuckled nervously and began slowly heading deeper into the forest. He had to at least explore a bit, the young man already knew that if he wanted the best chance to live that he would need to sleep atop of a tree, now his next worry was food.
The Hex had yet to tell him what his mission was, so that only seemed to fuel his nerves further. He was all alone and at least wanted to find one of the students even if he didn't know who they were.
However, after a while of treading through the eerie and massive forest, he began becoming more irritated. The enormous trees stretched on for miles and didn't seem to stop. Not to mention he hadn't seen a single thing ever since beginning his search.
Kai's throat began to dry as he kept walking through the never ending forest, that was when he finally remembered the tool that Sakura had gifted him for his birthday.
'Right... I really do hope she's alright...'
A faint blush found its way onto Kai's cheeks as he reminisced of his brief time with Sakura in the academy. He shook his head and tried to regain his composure as a blue panel materialized before him. Kai's eyes scanned his profile until he finally found the tools section
Tools: [Crown Of The Alpha], [The Incorruptible]
His lips pursed briefly before parting slightly, the young man practically gawked at the panel before him as he read the description.
[The Incorruptible] Tool Description: "An elegant bottle blessed by Poseidon with an endless capacity and the ability to purify all liquids that are poured within it. The process takes around twenty seconds to purify whatever liquid is poured into the endless bottle, all liquid drank from the bottle will grant the consumer with vigor and heal most shallow wounds."
[The Incorruptible] Attributes: [Pure Soul], [Blessing of Vitality], [Endless]
Kai beamed at the sight of both the description and attributes, this was simply just too great of a boon. Sakura was truly the best friend he could ever ask for. But he soon came to a swift realization.
'...If this has something to do with Poseidon, then she must've received it alongside the divine blessing of Poseidon, one of the six main Gods! It's either that or she's the luckiest person ever to find two of these within her first trial...'
Kai let out a soft sigh while suppressing his excitement and continued reading.
[Pure Soul] Attribute Description: "This object has been blessed with a pure soul, preventing any and all corruption from infecting the object it inhabits."
[Blessing of Vitality] Attribute Description: "Any and all liquid consumed from this bottle will grant the consumer with great vigor and heal shallow wounds."
[Endless ]Attribute Description: "This object was granted an incomprehensible amount of space in order to store all of the water of the ocean itself."
Truly this tool that Sakura had granted him was nothing short of a miracle worker. Sadly he hadn't poured any liquid inside, so he'd have to do without water for a while until he heard some soft water.
'I really hope Sakura is fine...'
Just as Kai began remembering his moments with Sakura once more, he heard someone calmly walking nearby. Without thinking twice, the young man focused and turned around, he activated his unauthorized ability, [Keen Eye].
Although the ability consumed a lot of his mana, Kai quickly spotted the location of the creature. It was slowly walking out of the opposite side of the forest, directly where he was facing. But to his utter shock, it was not a horrible creature. Instead, it was a beautiful young woman with golden hair, diamond blue eyes, and smooth alabaster skin. She was wearing an elegant blue dress that suited her figure perfectly, the dress was followed by a chest plate, two shoulder pads, and a beautiful silver sword that was held firmly in her hand.
It was Rin Inoue, someone he knew, but also someone he would have rather never bumped into again. Rin spared him a look of amusement as she took in his features. Kai's body was lean and his muscles were toned well to accommodate his build. But what really amused her was the crudely made green underwear he was wearing.
Kai gritted his teeth and scoffed inwardly while noticing her mocking glare.
'Yeah, yeah, take it all in you bastard. I don't have any armor type gear. You almost gave me a heart attack now you want to mock me?!'
His thoughts were interrupted by the young beauty as she chuckled and spoke in a condescending tone.
"Well isn't it just a pleasure to see you here so soon, Kaito. Please tell me, do you think we're at the beach?"